


Beginnings

by Thrushsong_kVaris



Category: Magic Kaito
Genre: Alternate Universe, Aoko will avenge you, Detective Aoko, Gen, RIP Toichi, a collection of scenes with my take on how things might change from the beginning, by helping Kaito find your murderers, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28213317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thrushsong_kVaris/pseuds/Thrushsong_kVaris
Summary: Aoko becomes a detective in order to help her best friend deal with his grief.
Relationships: Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid & Nakamori Aoko
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KDblack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KDblack/gifts).



> My DCMK Secret Santa gift for KDblack. I ended up writing for your detective Aoko prompt, I hope you enjoy it!~  
> (This is a collection of a few scenes so the ~A~ indicates a time-skip.)

Aoko hated that the only thing she could do was hold her best friend as he cried and struggle not to join him in bawling her eyes out. Kaito was frustrated and angry and upset, and as much as Aoko hated seeing him like this, she was glad he had stopped looking like a blank shell of her friend. It had been scary to see Kaito like that, so empty and almost like he’d turned into a ghost.

That didn’t mean that Aoko would forgive the idiots who had finally pushed Kaito hard enough that he couldn’t hide how hurt he was. Aoko had gone next door to visit only to see Kaito crying his heart out, with his mom trying to soothe him. It hadn’t been until Aoko had been hugging him for a few minutes that she was able to understand the words he had been repeating through the tears; ‘it wasn’t a mistake’. Aoko hadn’t understood at first—not until Kaito’s mom had told her that the Police had declared Toichi-jisan’s death an accident, that he must have made a mistake setting up his show.

Aoko resolved then and there that she would become a detective and discover what had really happened to Toichi-jisan. Detectives solved old cases all the time, right? She would have to wait until she was good enough (and old enough) for people to believe her, but she would do it.

Because Kaito was right. There was no way Toichi-jisan would have been careless enough to make such a huge mistake during a show. Kaito had dragged her around backstage enough for Aoko to know better than to try to touch any of Toichi-jisan’s magic stuff. The first time Kaito had wanted to show Aoko something backstage, Toichi-jisan had warned her not to touch anything at all, because there were things that could be really dangerous if she did something wrong or tried to play with them. Even _Kaito_ had only been allowed to use Toichi-jisan’s playing cards unless Toichi-jisan was right there to make sure Kaito didn’t hurt himself.

“Aoko believes Kaito,” she declared firmly.

Kaito sniffled and looked up at her, “R-really?”

She nodded, “Aoko will become a detective and help Kaito prove the idiots all wrong!”

She ignored the adults scolding her for using bad words, because it wasn’t important as seeing Kaito’s (tiny, wobbling, watery) smile for the first time in weeks.

~A~

“Aoko solved a case!” she declared.

“That’s great, Aoko—wait, _what?!_ ” her dad shouted.

“Tou-san, pay attention!” she pouted at her dad. “ Aoko said she solved a case!”

“No, no, Aoko, I’m just surprised that there was a case at your school! What kind of case was it?”

Aoko eyed her dad suspiciously, but he didn’t look doubtful, only eager to hear about the case, so she started to explain, “Akiyama-sensei from the classroom next door left her ring on her desk yesterday so it wouldn’t get dirty when she took her class to show them how to take care of the animals, but when the class came back it was gone!”

“Eh? A missing ring, huh?” her dad prompted.

“Un! Tsukuda-kun said the whole class helped look for it but no one could find it! It was just gone! Poof!”

“Poof? Did Kaito-kun move it somewhere as a prank?” her dad questioned.

“No.” Aoko pouted again, “Tou-san, you can’t skip to the end, that’s not how it works—you have to find the evidence first!”

“Sorry, Aoko,” her dad replied. “So how did you look for clues?”

“First, Aoko found out what time the class went to see the animals and how long they were gone. Then, Aoko asked the other teachers on our hallway if they noticed anything during that time.”

“Oh, narrowing the time of the crime and finding witnesses; did the potential witnesses have information?”

“Not a lot, but, Himura-sensei said he saw Akiyama-sensei lock her door when the class left, and unlock it when they came back!”

“Oh? So the room was locked the whole time?”

“But someone else could have unlocked the room and locked it again if they had a key! So Aoko asked who else would have a key to Akiyama-sensei’s classroom, and there were lots of people!”

“Eh? So what did you do next?”

“Finding alibis! Aoko asked all of them what they were doing while the class was empty, but most of them were in other parts of the school. Only Yasuda-san was nearby, but he was taking care of the flowers outside and a lot of other students saw him. So everyone with a key had alibis!”

“Oh, that sounds like a tough case, Aoko,” her Dad said. “How did you figure it out?”

“Some of the flowers Yasuda-san was taking care of were right outside the classroom window, so Aoko asked if he saw anything unusual.”

“Did he?”

“Un! He said one of the windows was open, and he saw a bird fly in the classroom and a little later it went back to its nest! Aoko had to get help after that to get up into the tree where the nest was, but the ring was right there in the bird’s nest!”

“My daughter is such a clever detective, solving her first case already! We should celebrate!”

Aoko beamed in delight and excitedly peppered her dad with ideas of ways to celebrate, eventually convincing him to get a cake from her favorite bakery.

~A~

When Kaito found the secret room, he was shocked, he couldn’t quite believe that it was really happening. The only thing he could think to do was to put on the suit and confront the person acting as KID. Listening to what Jii told him…Kaito was still in shock, but the need to not get caught let him shove that to the back of his mind.

The first thing he did when he got back to his house was to call Aoko. She had been there for him through everything, he couldn’t imagine that this would be different. Kaito couldn’t keep this from her—especially not when he’d just found out that there actually was an adult who believed they were right.

“Kaito? What’s going on? Why did you call me to come here in the middle of the night?”

He looked up and gave her a weak smile, “Here, look.” Carefully, he reached out and pressed against the painting until it unlatched, letting it spin to reveal the opposite side.

Aoko blinked at him, “Is—is that—a _secret room?!_ since when have you had—is this what you called me about?”

“Part of it,” Kaito admitted, glad he’d taken the time to change out of the suit while he waited for Aoko to come over. He didn’t want her to think he’d known about this since KID’s reappearance without telling her. “I found it earlier today and—well, I kinda freaked out.”

Aoko blinked at him, “Kaito didn’t know?”

“Nope,” Kaito shrugged, “I think it must have been locked or something?”

Frowning now, Aoko marched toward the secret entrance, and Kaito hastily warned her, “Ah, careful, it opens right on a drop.”

“Bakaito hurt himself falling, didn’t he?”

“I’m fine, Ahoko, there’s a cushion at the bottom.”

Aoko eyed him skeptically before huffing and stepping through the opening, and Kaito waited anxiously as he heard her yelp and the muffled thump as she hit the cushion. When he didn’t hear anything further after a minute, he called out, “Aoko? Are you alive still?”

“Get down here and start explaining, Bakaito!” she yelled back.

“Don’t blame me if I fall on you, Ahoko!” Kaito snarked, jumping through the secret doorway as soon as he’d finished speaking. Thankfully for both of them, Aoko was standing a short distance from the cushion and staring at the rest of the room. He flinched slightly when she turned to glare at him.

“Kaito. Is this what Aoko thinks it is?”

“If you’re thinking it’s my dad’s secret criminal lair, then, yeah, pretty sure it’s what you think it is.”

Blankly, she responded, “Aoko’s Dad was friends with Kaitou KID.”

Kaito gaped at her for a minute, “I—hadn’t thought about that, but um…I don’t think he would have known…considering I just found out today and I’m not even sure Mom has any idea this room could be opened again?”

Grimacing, she replied, “No, Aoko doesn’t think Dad knew either.” She surveyed the room and questioned, “Kaito…did you _use_ this stuff tonight?”

“Um…” Kaito winced when she narrowed her eyes at him, “Okay, you got me, I did. I wanted to know who was acting as Kaitou KID since, well…I wanted to know if they knew anything about Dad.”

“Hmm,” Aoko eyed him and asked, “Well, did they?”

“Y-yeah,” Kaito took a steadying breath, “It turns out that Dad’s old assistant was the one who, uh, revived Kaitou KID. He told me he was trying to draw out the people who murdered Dad.”

Aoko’s eyes widened, “What? He knows who—”

“No,” Kaito cut her off. “He seemed pretty sure that Dad was murdered because he was KID, but he said he didn’t know anything about who actually did it.”

“Kaito wants to follow Toichi-jisan’s footsteps as KID, Aoko can tell,” his friend stated sternly.

“Aoko, this is more than we ever knew before. This could be our best shot to find out what really happened, I can’t just walk away from it!” Kaito protested.

“It’s dangerous. Kaito would become a criminal, what if he gets caught?”

“I won’t let myself get caught, but it would be worth it to finally find out what happened to Dad,” Kaito insisted.

“Even if Kaito gets hurt because of it? What if Kaito can’t do magic anymore because he was hurt?”

“I don’t care about getting hurt. I _need_ to know what all of this is about, Aoko, please tell me you understand,” Kaito gave Aoko his best pleading expression, “I understand if you don’t want to get involved but please, please don’t say anything to your dad about this.”

“Aoko understands,” she promised solemnly. “That’s why Aoko is going to help and make sure Bakaito doesn’t get himself killed.”

Kaito spluttered, “Aoko? But—what—you want to be a detective—”

“Aoko can still be a detective and keep Bakaito safe,” his best friend responded stubbornly. “Aoko can pretend to keep hating Kaitou KID, so no one would believe Aoko knows his identity. And Aoko can help Bakaito get information, and learn first aid for when Bakaito does something stupid and gets hurt, and—”

“Thank you,” Kaito interrupts the litany, knowing if he didn’t Aoko would keep going until he admitted defeat, “It’s good to know that I’ll have a detective on my side,” he smiles at her gratefully.

Aoko clicks her tongue at him, “Aoko might be willing to help Kaito, but Aoko better not have to cover for Kaito’s mistakes to keep him from getting caught.”

“Oi!” Kaito protests, “What kind of magician would I be if I needed the critics to hide my mistakes? I’m not some lousy amateur who can’t keep the show going!”

“Yes, yes, Aoko knows Kaito was trained by the Greatest Magician Ever, but that doesn’t mean Kaito is that good.”

“Rude!”

“Yet.”

Kaito opens his and closes his mouth silently like a dreaded finny thing for a minute he’s so shocked by Aoko’s unexpected comment.

“Bakaito, it’s too late to start plotting, so Aoko will come visit tomorrow,” she declares, before eyeing the cushion by the entrance suspiciously. “There better be a different way to get back to Kaito’s room than jumping.”

Kaito spluttered for a bit before giving in and walking over to the lever he’d found earlier that revealed a ladder built into the wall. “Are you sure about helping with this, Aoko?” he asked, “You could get in trouble for this too, if someone finds out.”

Scoffing at him, she replied, “As if Aoko would let her best friend do this on his own. What does Bakaito think Aoko should do instead, sit around and watch Bakaito’s idiot plans get him hurt?”

Kaito laughed nervously, “Of course not, I just don’t want you to get in trouble for something that’s my fault.”

“Then Kaito has to make sure not to get caught and give Aoko away,” Aoko said primly.

Offended, Kaito retorted, “Even if I did get caught I wouldn’t say anything that would get you in trouble!”

“Then Kaito has nothing to worry about,” Aoko concluded smugly.

“How cruel, using my own words against me!” Kaito mock-whined.

Aoko rolled her eyes at him, but he could see the smile she was failing to hide. Grinning widely he led the way back out of the secret room. Kaito was so relieved that Aoko was still determined to try to help him find out the truth, even knowing that his Dad had been an internationally wanted thief. He would have been miserable if she decided to try to stop him, or if he had tried to hide this from her. Even tonight, having Aoko tell him that she would help him, and try to keep him from making dumb mistakes had made Kaito feel so much better. He might not know nearly as much as he thought he did about his family, but he still had his best friend. And knowing Aoko, she would be supporting his quest until they’d discovered everything there was to learn about what had happened to his dad.

~A~

“You seem to be distressed, ojousan.”

“H-Hakuba-kun?”

Aoko would never admit that she’d gone a bit starry-eyed when Hakuba Saguru had introduced himself a their new classmate. Even if she _had_ , well, who could blame her? He was a famous detective! In her class! He was her age! She might be able to see him solve a case, or even learn some of his techniques!

Aoko hadn’t been able to muster up the courage to talk to him about it though. After all, she hadn’t solved many cases, and she was really not interested in being in the news. She hadn’t solved any cases involving famous or rich people, so even if she was mentioned in the case reports, she wasn’t really known as a detective to anyone other than her classmates. One of the last things she’d expected was for him to interrupt an argument with Kaito, yet there he was.

“My height: 180 cm, weight: 65 kg, birthday: August 29th 1997, sign: Virgo, blood type: A, would you allow me to accompany you?”

“Eh?” Aoko hoped neither of the boys could tell how nervous she was—wait…did Hakuba-kun just ask her on a _date?!_ He kissed her hand and it took all her willpower not to blush like a tomato, she was so flustered. They barely knew each other!

“A man who so casually dismisses an invitation doesn’t deserve a lady as kind as you,” Hakuba-kun declared.

“B-but...” Aoko had no idea how she was supposed to respond to this. (She couldn’t really say she wasn’t interested in Hakuba-kun, but she didn’t know him well enough to say she _was_ either. If he’d been asking as a friend then she wouldn’t mind, but a date with someone she’d barely spoken to?

(There was also the fact that Hakuba-kun was back in Japan because he wanted to arrest Kaitou KID. Aoko wasn’t nearly as confident in her acting abilities as Kaito. She didn’t want to accidentally get her friend in trouble after all.)

“A pathetic detective who can’t catch Kaitou KID and the daughter of the pathetic inspector who can’t catch Kaitou KID?” Kaito butted in, “You make a good match! Kekeke~”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aoko shot back defensively, not liking that Kaito had implied her dad was incompetent.

She was confused when Hakuba-kun only chuckled at Kaito’s insult saying, “Well, it seems he’s biased towards KID.” Hakuba-kun put an arm around her shoulders and she turned her head toward him in surprise (and embarrassment; she could feel the blush was back) as he continued, “How about this? If I catch KID tonight, would you agree to invite me?”

“Eh-Eehh?” Aoko spluttered, eyes wide in shock as she stared at Hakuba-kun. What kind of condition was that?! She couldn’t just go off to a concert if Kaito had been arrested—wait…was Hakuba-kun trying to use this to make Kaito slip up? Then she shouldn’t agree, right?

“Keh,” Kaito said scornfully, “As if the great Kaitou KID would be caught by someone like _you_.”

“Hmph. Well, unlike you, KID’s a genius; it certainly won’t be easy. _If_ I lose, I’ll leave it to you to escort Aoko-kun,” Hakuba-kun answered.

Aoko didn’t have time to interrupt before Kaito was already responding, “Sounds fun! I don’t really want to go, but I’ll take that bet!”

The boys’ eyes locked in a challenging stare-down as they both laughed smugly, and watching them Aoko wondered: what had even been the point of dragging her into this?

She honestly wasn’t sure which of the two of them she was more upset with: Kaito for teasing her in the first place or Hakuba-kun for offering to go with her only as an excuse to challenge Kaito. By the time she’d recovered from her surprise at Hakuba-kun’s offer, he and Kaito had already turned it into a challenge against each other—with her as their ‘prize’. Although…since she’d never agreed to go along with their bet, Aoko was tempted to just invite Keiko to the concert and be done with it.

She liked that idea, actually. Kaito and Hakuba-kun could have their face-off, and then after the heist Aoko would give the both of them a piece of her mind for their rudeness in treating her like some kind of trophy, and tell them that no matter who had won, she would have gone to the concert with Keiko. She would get to hear Bakaito apologize for being stupid, and find out from Hakuba-kun’s reaction to being scolded if he she could respect him as a friend instead of as a famous detective.

(If she _could_ get along with him, maybe she could eventually convince him to help her and Kaito resolve the KID situation?)

**Author's Note:**

> As it stands this is a one-shot, I hope y'all enjoyed these snapshots of how things might change in the MK series if Aoko was also a detective =D  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
